We donate to charities and individuals in need, near and far. Many comment on the quality of the goods you kindly donate. One, for example, put it this way: “Sometimes when we receive ‘charity goods’, the quality is poor and we don’t know whether to throw them out right away or try to fix them… But yours were incredible! Our people couldn’t unload them fast enough.”

Such comments are a credit to the manufacturers, businesses, institutes and families in the Hong Kong community who donate quality items so generously.

DELIVERY OPTIONS

We ask our donors to deliver goods to us, please.

WHY DELIVER: This may be a surprise to some as, in the past, we had volunteers collect goods. We can no longer do that, sadly.

We have been overwhelmed by Hong Kong’s generosity. So many Hong Kong people now kindly donate that we cannot find sufficient volunteers to staff a pick-up service. Some donors therefore suggested we switch to a delivery model. We were reluctant to do so, as we know this costs our donors. Yet, they pointed out, it also costs, in Hong Kong, for people to have goods taken away for trash. They had a point. We listened. Finally, reluctantly, we changed our model.

HOW TO DELIVER: You can deliver the goods yourself or use a transport service. We can suggest delivery companies.

WHEN TO DELIVER: We will arrange a date with you in advance. We have staff on hand to receive goods from Tuesday to Saturday (except public holidays), 10:30 am – 1 pm or 2 – 4 pm.

In summary, then:

WHAT IS NEEDED?

Experience, over the years, has taught us which items are frequently requested and which are difficult to place. We’ve captured that thinking in the links below. Please check them out to see what is urgently needed, generally needed and, in some cases, never needed.

DO WE TAKE EVERYTHING?

It saddens us when we have to refuse goods. Usually it is for reasons such as the following.

On occasion, we have an over-abundance of some items and, necessarily, need to place a hold on collections while we process those in stock.

There are some items which we cannot distribute due to reasons of fragility or size. Glass furniture, for example, easily breaks when shipped. Very large items, such as king sized beds, or huge tables, cannot be used by people in small homes such as typical Hong Kong apartments or African huts in needy areas.

We do not have the personnel to fix items that are need of repair. Our commitment is to distribute quality items that not only meet needs but demonstrate the importance and value of the person receiving them.

At all times, we are advised by those who receive the goods from us as to what they can actually use. If we are offered items they can’t normally use, we must, regretfully say no. The worst kind of humanitarian aid or welfare is, of course, that kind which imposes goods on people that they don’t need or can’t really use, so we must be guided by that. Additionally it is not good for us to send items which might damage a local economy or in other ways undermine the community receiving them. In all these things, we are guided by our standards of best practice.

If we must refuse any donations, however, we can recommend other organisations that may be able to take them.